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Osage Orange Bowl

A while back I came across a bunch of downed trees with a sign that read "Free Firewood". I stopped and looked and it was Osage Orange. That's a pretty rare find in my neck of the woods so I got a couple pickup loads. A lot of it is firewood, cracked and split, but I was able to get quite a bit of good stuff too. This is the first piece of it I've turned. It's a shallow rimmed bowl, 12" x 2.75", with danish oil finish. Top, bottom and side view

I hope not. This wood is already pretty dry so hopefully it will hold it's shape and not crack. I wish I would have taken a picture before I put the oil on it. I sanded it down to 600 and it was starting to shine without any finish. The oil did bring out the color. It was some nice wood to work with, hard but it cut clean with very little tearing.

Don't discount the cracked stuff as waste. I have sold quite a few pen blanks from OO. And, for Vaughn, my experience is that it isn't any different than other woods for drying other than being slow. The tree I cut had the ends sealed immediately but some big pieces still cracked. Hose off and spray with insecticide. There is a wormmie that likes to eat OO. I think that worm saves the world from being eyeball deep in the wood as it takes longer than a rock to rot.
Edit: Forgot, I like the bowl. Good work. Hard or not, OO is fun to turn.

"Folks is funny critters."

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~Voltaire

Very nice Curt,
Takes on that beautiful tone of cedar when polished and oiled. Is osage orange part of the cedar family?
Shaz

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Shaz, I can't say with any expertise that OO is, or isn't, related to cedar. But, it is unlike any cedar I have ever seen. I really doubt any relationship. OO is harder than a bankers heart and the trees don't resemble cedars. It has thorns and drops 'fruit' seed pods larger than a softball. The pods are often called 'apples' and are very sticky. Reportedly, the apples and the sticky stuff will keep insects away. OO has many names: hedge, hedge apple, post wood, Bois d' Arc, Bodark, and on and on. It grows in many climates all over the world. Once favored as pasture and land boundaries (e.g. 'hedge') is now considered a nusiance. The wood has a high silica content and dried OO can cause sparks when power sawed. From experience, I can tell you it is [expletive deleted] on bandsaw blades. However, I enjoy working with it. Even being very hard, it is a joy to turn and is beautiful. Newly worked OO is bright yellow/orange but exposed to light will turn dark and eventually chocolate brown. Being heavy and very hard and strong, it makes great bonkers of all types. It is flexible and strong and was/still used for making archery bows. (remember: Bois d' Arc or 'bow of the arc' ).

"Folks is funny critters."

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~Voltaire